Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 63 Extortion, Cooperation, and Receiving Money (1.4 votes needed)

Diana Kuno's expression at that moment was one of pure terror.

What a hell!

She only remembers walking to the office, pushing open the door, and then a dark shadow flashed by, and after that she remembers nothing.

She looked around in alarm, touched her neck, and could still feel the phantom pain there.

"Security! Where's the security?!"

Diana immediately called security and then hurriedly returned to her desk. She had already guessed the purpose of the other party's visit to her office; without a doubt, they were after the data on the server.

Therefore, her first reaction was to immediately check her computer and notify security to confirm whether the server was damaged.

But as Diana sat down in the chair and took a few more deep breaths, her oxygen-deprived brain gradually regained its rationality. Suddenly, she froze in place, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Is now the time to protect company assets?

Those people hacked the company's server right in front of me, and then they ran away!
So whose responsibility is this?
If a large-scale data breach and intelligence leak occur, who will be held responsible?

The regional director who leaves work early to go home and sleep? Or is it Joanna, the deputy director at the same level as her, who only cares about climbing the ranks?

No, no, no, I'm the only one to blame! Because I saw those robbers, and I'm still alive, and I wasn't even hurt!

We need to think of a way, we need to think of a way.
A video call popped up in Diana's eyes, and she answered it with a somewhat gloomy expression.

"Deputy Director Kuno, this is John, the security captain for tonight. We have detected signs of an intruder and have dispatched a special forces team to your floor for support!"

The security captain who was speaking was now covered in sweat.

"waste!"

Diana cursed first, but then a thought struck her: "Wait, don't come to help yet. I want to ask you, have there been any casualties?"

“No,” John replied simply.

"How many people discovered the company had been hacked?" Diana pressed urgently.

“Currently, besides myself and the security team tonight, it’s just you.” After John answered, Diana fell into a long silence.

She thought for a while, then decisively said, "Listen, John, I'm saving you—what will happen if the company finds out that you security guards let someone slip in?"

“Internal investigation. Demotion or even dismissal.” John’s voice was a little hoarse, and his low mood could be heard in his tone.

Diana spoke clearly: "We were attacked on the highway this afternoon, our technical director Emilia went missing, and then we were robbed tonight."

Whose side is Emilia on?

“Yes, she’s one of Deputy Director Joanna’s people,” John said.

"If the internal staff discovers the missing items this time, is it possible that Emilia did it? I mean, is it possible that she is an insider from another company who used this opportunity to disappear?"

That way, if we lose something, it won't be a security problem on our end.

Perhaps Emilia had already stolen the items?

And you did not encounter any attacks that night, security was normal, and no one was negligent!
Do you think this possibility exists?

After Diana finished speaking, John fell silent.

After only about two breaths, John gritted his teeth and said, "That's right! That's exactly it! Security is perfect tonight! There haven't been any problems!"

“John, whatever losses our company has suffered, we can investigate them slowly, but if it’s not discovered, then it means we know nothing about it.”

Even if the company's inside stories or data are exposed, it could very well be the work of the missing manager, Emilia. Do you understand what I mean?
"Emilia is under Associate Director Joanna's command, and it's the two of them who are actively pushing forward the entire project. I'm only responsible for drug synthesis, and you're just a dutiful security captain. Do you understand what I mean?"

Diana repeated it again, reaffirming their resolve.

John's tone became equally resolute this time: "I understand! The malfunction of the monitoring system today, which led to the loss of monitoring data, is definitely related to the attack on the convoy today and the disappearance of Director Emilia."

“Very good, Captain John. The regional director will be holding a meeting tomorrow. I will report all the facts truthfully and let the people who should be held responsible take charge, not us dutiful employees. What do you think?”

After Diana finished speaking, John replied decisively, "That's right, those who really made mistakes should be punished."

"Okay, remember to delete the chat history for now. That's all for now."

Diana hung up the phone, took a few deep breaths in her seat, then got up and picked up the precious red wine from the office wine cabinet.

These days, red wine made from grapes is a rare sight, and even she is reluctant to drink much of it. But today, she has lost all interest in decanting and tasting wine as usual. She simply opened the bottle and gulped down two mouthfuls.

I'm sorry, Joanna
If, until this incident occurred today, Diana still thought she would stand by Joanna and work together to resolve the series of crises that the hijacking of the convoy might trigger...

So now, Diana has completely lost all kindness—she only wants to save herself first.

If it were just a car being stolen or a person going missing, there would be many ways to explain it, and someone of Emilia's caliber wouldn't be able to have much of an impact on the company.

But if someone gets into her office and does something with the computer she has connected to the data server, the losses could be immeasurable!

No problem, Diana, you'll definitely get through this.
Diana reassured herself, then quickly began checking her computer.

She didn't dare to hire professionals to look into it, so she could only try to find out what the mysterious person who broke into her office did with her computer and what data they stole.

But clearly, Diana, who wasn't tech-savvy, couldn't find anything.

She didn't even realize that an AI was still on her computer, using her privileges to mine cryptocurrency and steal teaching materials from the server at the same time.

She also didn't realize that there was a program running in her brain-computer interface, which used her prosthetic eye and the brain-computer interface's sound recording to record her every word and every movement.

Until a pop-up window suddenly appeared in her prosthetic eye's field of vision.

[?: Brilliant self-rescue, Dr. Kuno, I almost couldn't help but applaud you.]

"who!!"

Diana was so frightened that she almost fell off her chair.

【?: Calm down, don't worry. Aside from planting a magic puppet in your brain that could burn it in a second at most, I haven't done anything else.】

A flicker of panic crossed Diana's eyes as she instinctively tried to disconnect the brain-computer interface, only to discover that it was not responding!
[?: Don't waste your time, and don't even think about physically disconnecting from the internet. You can't start the program as quickly as I can with a single thought.]

Diana gritted her teeth, forcing herself to speak with unease, "What do you want?"

[Question mark: Now is not the time for me to set a price. I think you should think carefully about how much your life is worth and how much your future is worth.]

Diana's expression calmed down a bit: "I can't just give you my savings in biotechnology. If I withdraw all the money at this time, the company will definitely suspect that I'm involved because my funds have disappeared."

I have a total of one million euros in other banks within the European Community. This money is my backup plan. If you want it, I can give it to you, but you have to promise to spare my life.

She dared not gamble on whether there was a puppet in her head or not—but considering how she had passed out, and how the other person could so easily sneak into her office despite the heavy security presence, she couldn't help but think about it.
Diana thought it best to believe it first.

【?: Okay, then it'll be one million euros. Consider it money for your own life. Go and prepare the money chip yourself, and hand it over to me at the designated location tomorrow.】

Next, let's talk about the price for buying out your recording with Captain John.

If you're unwilling, I can consider discussing it with Associate Director Joanna to see how much she's willing to pay to buy out the recording.

Diana's eyes widened slightly: "No, no need! You name your price! I... I can think of another way to get you the money!"

As long as she still has her job and position, at her level, earning back a million won't be difficult at all.

【?: Then please use your brain again and think carefully about how much money you actually have in your card.】

"I really don't have that much money in my account anymore. Most of my extra income has been invested in fixed assets, such as houses, cars, and a lot of art."

All the money I earned through legitimate means was deposited into the company account. You should know that company employees are not allowed to deposit money in non-designated banks, and I'm not the kind of person who likes to make money by embezzling!

"Give me some time, until this is all over and I'm settled, then I'll gradually give you the money. I still have over four million euros in the company bank. Or, give me some time, and I'll sell some fixed assets!"

For the first time, Diana regretted not having made more money in the past.

【?: Then let's trade something else. I've seen a lot of interesting equipment in your database. I think if I could get my hands on it and sell it to another company, I could definitely make a lot of money.】

Diana looked bitter: "The company would never give me the opportunity to steal things for you. Cheap things are one thing, but if valuable equipment is lost, I absolutely cannot escape unscathed."

【?: What if it's not your fault? For example, you just requested some experimental equipment from headquarters, but it got robbed en route—that's not your fault, it's the transport personnel's fault for not being careful enough, don't you think?】

Diana's thoughts immediately became active.

It's all thanks to you bad guys that you have so many ideas. She's a researcher, and it's really hard for her to figure it out in a short time.

"That's fine."

【？：Then it's settled. I'll give you a list and see what you can get. I need the detailed configuration of the security personnel for the transport, the transport route, and the precise time.】

Once you have the item, this recording won't easily appear in your sight again.

Diana gritted her teeth: "Won't it appear so easily again?"

【？：I mean I destroyed it, do you believe me? Rather than that, let's maintain some trust and threat between us.】

If the collaboration goes well enough, we might have the opportunity to work together again in the future.

Think about it, if Deputy Director Joanna gets blamed and fired this time, who is the only person who has a chance to compete for the regional director position?

Do you want to be a living, working regional director who can collaborate with me, or a dead regional deputy director?

I don't think this is a difficult choice.

"Cooperation? I don't even know who you are!" Diana picked up the wine bottle in frustration and anxiety, and drank it down again, treating each sip as if it were her last.

【?: You will find out, but not now. Think about it carefully, Dr. Kuno. Now you can go and make preparations. Remember to put one million euros into the money chip tomorrow.】

I will send you the list of equipment I need in your email shortly.

Meanwhile, if you want to completely crush Deputy Director Joanna, I have another video here that you might find very interesting.

A video recording of Ms. Emilia's confession reveals that Deputy Director Joanna intended to create a pretext to embezzle money and also poison the town of Yucca.

Specifically, we'll discuss that after you come up with one million euros, okay?

Diana's expression suddenly became agitated: "You have a video? Are you sure it's the kind that can nail Joanna to the ground?"

【?: Tomorrow, bring the money chip to the location I specify. After I receive the money, we'll discuss the next steps.】

".OK!"

Diana gritted her teeth and nodded emphatically, agreeing to the mysterious man's request.

【? : Great, then I'll contact you again later.】

Find an expert to remove the Puppet software yourself; I have your contact information.

"I understand!" Diana said, but there was no response for a long time.

She waited for a while until she was sure the other person had really left, then got up with a gloomy expression and headed straight for the medical department inside the biotechnology building.

She needs to have her prosthetic body fully examined and formatted.

But as she walked, Diana's heavy heart suddenly became complicated, filled with excitement and even anticipation.
If that guy really has a video of him biting Joanna to death, it seems like I really have a chance to go further.
"call"

Mercer let out a long sigh of relief and disconnected the video call with Diana.

By this time, their car had long since left the biotechnology building and entered the city.

It was nearly 3 a.m., almost the quietest time of day in Night City. Mercer opened the window a crack, let in some fresh air, and leaned back comfortably in his car seat.

"You were just chatting with that Kuno?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"Yeah, I squeezed her out of money again. I've discovered that these corporate dogs are really damn rich. A supervisor can make hundreds of thousands out of her, and a regional director can ask for a million. And that's without me pushing her too hard."

If they really wanted to squeeze a killing out of her, they could probably get three to five million euros.

As soon as Mercer finished speaking, Rebecca's eyes widened, and she breathed heavily: "Then why don't you rip her off as much as you can?"

"Because I feel that Dr. Kuno has other uses. If he tries to make too much money, he might become desperate and retaliate, and then we won't be able to continue the discussion."

Mercer believed that one million euros was not a huge sum for Diana Kuno; she could grit her teeth and hand it over without holding a grudge.

As for the rest, let's just keep her for now.

What's the point of killing them? Not only will you not get any money, but you might also anger the biotechnology team. What if Wakako can't withstand the pressure, or the biotechnology team finds out about the information and targets the Fire Seed Squad?
Wouldn't that just mean I'd be on the company's wanted list for nothing?

Being wanted by Arasaka is one thing, since Mercer really made a killing, but being targeted by biotechnology because of Wakako's 300,000 yen reward? That's not worth it.

In contrast, keeping Diana Kuno would be much more advantageous, as long as she actually obeyed and brought Mercer the cloning machine he wanted. Mercer also kept the chat history between them.

Then Mercer could use this secret to live off her for the rest of her life—she would have to cover for Mercer, because if something happened to Mercer and he exposed her, she would be finished too.

Rebecca thought for a while, but couldn't think of anything Mercer and that biotech company dog ​​could talk about. She was just thinking about the money she was about to get, and her eyes were shining.

V had already foolishly counted on his fingers, and now he could finally settle the score.

"In other words, we can get at least 300,000 from Wakako, and then we got nearly 1.4 million from these two company dogs. And you still say that the information and data you got can be sold for money?"
Even that instrument stolen from the Behemoth could sell for 100,000 euros.
Hmm, let's say two million. After deducting the team fund of four hundred thousand euros, we'll have one million six hundred thousand left.

There were six of us on this mission. According to your logic, the more you work, the more you get. I guess I should get at least 40% of the credit, right?

That's 40% of 1.6 million.

V's eyes were practically filled with stars.

"Six hundred thousand? Six hundred and forty thousand?" V exclaimed in surprise. "Even if I pay back your debt, I'll still have over two hundred thousand left? Wow! I'm rich!!"

Rebecca also calculated how much she would get: "My brother and I didn't help much this time, we just drove. Together we should get, uh, 10%?"

She glanced at Mercer, looking somewhat insecure. Rebecca felt she didn't quite deserve so many points.

Mercer held up two fingers: "V and I will each get 30%, and the four of you will each get 10%. That's it. You get a share for each person who works."

V felt a little sorry for them, but after thinking about it, Mercer's words made sense. They were all on the same side, and it wasn't in her nature to deduct a few percent.

The idea that everyone gets a share for each person who works has a certain shady feel to it.

When you're out on the streets, if someone is a member of your gang, even if he's just driving you around, you have to share your share. Otherwise, you'd better watch out that next time he drives you around, he might just take you straight to his gang's hideout.

V nodded and said, "I have no objection, so let's each get 30%! Let me calculate, that's 480,000?"

"You're pretty good at math," Mercer said jokingly. "I thought you'd need several more seconds to calculate."

“Get lost, I’m not used to calculating such large sums of money. I feel trembling just thinking about it once. I have to calculate it several times,” V said.

Pila couldn't help but chime in, "Of course! Me too, I can get 160,000 euros!"

“Everyone will get a share.” Mercer gave an affirmative answer, and then said, “The money will be distributed after it’s in the account. But to be honest, I hope you will prioritize investing as much of the money you earn now as possible in yourselves.”

With stronger combat capabilities, there are some tasks that I don't need the whole team to do. I can assign them to you as personal tasks, and you only need to pay 20% of the team's funds.

Even if you only earn tens or hundreds of thousands of euros per order, isn't that better than only getting a 10% commission every time?

We were lucky this time and didn't run into any trouble, but we won't be this lucky every time.

Just imagine, what if a whole bunch of biotech agents and soldiers suddenly appeared behind us, chasing after us?

Pila gave an awkward laugh, knowing that the words were mainly directed at him: "I understand, boss. I'll keep some money for the trip to Ritz this time!"

He now wholeheartedly calls him "boss".

Damn it, with this much money, I'd call you daddy!
"Hmm." Mercer stretched. He hadn't slept all day and had used his brain a lot, so to be honest, he was a little sleepy.

"Tomorrow morning, I'll go find Wakako to settle the bill, get the one million that Kuno promised, and then we'll go to Dogtown."

After Mercer finished speaking, he squinted and said, "Let's get the base sorted out first, see how much it will cost, and then tonight I'll treat everyone to a drink at the Next Life."

"An afterlife? Holy crap, that's amazing!" Rebecca exclaimed excitedly. "That's a place only the most awesome outlaws can go!"

V said smugly, "Actually, it's just so-so. If you ask me, it's just a bit bigger and the people inside are a bit more powerful. Compared to other bars, its only advantage is that it's clean and tidy."

“You only went there once with Mercer.” Rebecca rolled her eyes.

V, however, stood tall and proud: "So you've been there, or do you think your Sister V isn't qualified enough now? Heh, if anyone tries to cause trouble again, this time A won't even need to lift a finger; I alone dare to twist all their heads off!"

"Pshaw, once I get my prosthetic body, I won't be much worse than you."

Rebecca said, already looking forward to her dominating the battlefield: "I want a whole gorilla arm! Mercer, you pick one for me!"

“Okay.” Mercer nodded in agreement, determined to help her choose a good one.

Forget about those giant gorilla arms from anime that are almost longer than her; now that he has money, Mercer would rather give her a more advanced one than see her with those weird-looking arms.

This cyberpunk aesthetic is truly bizarre.

Seeing her move closer to Mercer again, V couldn't help but say a few more words of disapproval: "It's not like I can't fake a gorilla arm. If you want to catch up with me, you're still a long way off."

"Huh? Then I'll pretend to be a Krenchikov. Once I can see you clearly, someone as fast as you, I'll aim and spray you, showing you the power of my Iron Gall!" Rebecca was convinced in her heart but not in her mouth.

V thought Rebecca was clueless: "Your eyes can keep up, but can your hands? I can race cars right now!"

"Then I'll install a berserk system! As long as my reflexes are fast enough, I can use my strength! I might not be as fast as you, but I'll be able to aim accurately!"

Rebecca and V started arguing until Pila quietly pointed a finger behind them. When they turned around, they saw Mercer leaning against the car window, properly fastening his seatbelt and half-asleep.

V pursed his lips, exchanged a glance with Rebecca, and the two of them turned their heads away in unison, effectively ending the fight.

When the car arrived at the Adcado camp, Rebecca nudged Mercer, who lazily opened his eyes: "Are we here?"

"We're here. Go back and get some rest!" Rebecca's gentle voice gave Pila goosebumps.

Mercer grunted in agreement, unbuckled his seatbelt, and grabbed the Drow shotgun he'd kept in the car just in case.

“V can come over tomorrow morning. We’ll go and submit the commission, get the money, and then I’ll contact Hans to see if he can find us a place to stay in Dogtown.”

If not, V and I will go to Dogtown ourselves and take a trip there.

After Mercer finished speaking, he waved his hand and said, "That's all for now. I need to go back and get some sleep. You guys should also go back and get some rest. V, I'll drive my car to find you tomorrow morning."

V nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll wait for your call."

"What about me? Don't we have anything to do?" Rebecca also wanted to do something.

"Go online and think about what kind of prosthetic body you want to have. Once the money is distributed and accommodations are arranged, we'll arrange a similar set of equipment for you, and then you can take on some simple jobs to get the team together."

"At that time, it will mainly be a few of you going out together. After the base is built, I won't personally go out for any major tasks; the risks are too high."

Mercer paused and said, "It doesn't matter if people know I'm A, but if they recognize the cybernetics on my back, it could be troublesome. So I try to stay out of the public eye as much as possible. In the future, we'll have to rely on you guys to hold the line on the front lines."

Most of the commissions are actually brute-force attacks. Some simple hacking tasks that only require breaking through security can be handed over to Lucy and Qiwei without any problems.

I also need some time to process and digest this knowledge.

Rebecca hummed in agreement and said, "Then I'll wait until you're done with your work, and then we'll meet again in the next life?"

“Okay, after we’re done with this, we’ll go to the afterlife. Once I’ve sold all the data and information I have, we’ll split the profits,” Mercer replied.

Rebecca looked at him and said, "You don't need to keep splitting the money over and over again. Okay, I got it."

Mercer chuckled, but V suddenly remembered something: "Hey? Didn't we agree to take off your mask after this job?"

"Shouldn't we add some ceremony? Haha, just wait a little longer, we'll show you."

Mercer was actually being malicious, trying to drive her crazy, since she's been talking increasingly unreliably lately.

V pursed his lips and muttered, "Who cares? Fine, go to sleep, I'm leaving." Mercer waved his hand and walked deeper into the camp with his hands in his pockets.

Back in the tent, Lucy was indeed still awake, in front of the computer, writing programs for the chip that could be quickly cracked. When she saw him, she first checked him over to make sure he wasn't missing any limbs, and then asked, "Did everything go smoothly?"

Mercer nodded, took a sip of water, and casually tossed his coat onto a hanger: "Everything went well."

She didn't press him further, but Mercer still chatted with her briefly about what would happen that evening while he was getting ready and washing up. Lucy listened quietly.

She waited until he finished washing up and lay down in the hacker chair before softly saying to him, "Goodnight."

"Good night, you should get some rest too." Mercer said, then hugged a thin blanket and relaxed in the hacker chair, closing his eyes.

It feels really nice to have someone waiting for him at home when he's done with his work.

Seeing that he was truly asleep, Lucy stopped busying herself, lay down on the mattress, covered herself with a thin blanket, listened to his breathing, and soon fell asleep as well.

The next morning, while Lucy was still asleep, Mercer had already woken up.

As usual, he first pulled the Qimingxing AI, which had returned to its network access warehouse, onto his laptop and ran it through, conducting an AI cognitive test.

The intelligence level of the Morning Star has visibly increased significantly. It seems to be having a great time in the biotechnology server. Presumably, with a little more patient nurturing, it will awaken true intelligence.

Mercer then ate breakfast using convenient fast food products, put the insulated box containing the drug samples in the trunk, and took a drone and his own Zoe shotgun before driving straight to the motel where V was staying.

Unsurprisingly, the woman was still fast asleep.

But she packed up quite quickly. Mercer only waited downstairs for ten minutes before V came down, yawning.

"What should we do first?" V sat down in Mercer's chair, crossed his long legs, and leaned back to close his eyes and relax.

Mercer tossed her a can of Benben Monkey without any hesitation, and V chuckled, picked up the can, and waved it at him: "Oh, you even noticed I like to drink this?"

"Only you would like something that's just corn syrup diluted with water. Don't you find it cloying?"

Mercer muttered a complaint and started the car.

V, however, acted as if you didn't understand and said, "Do you know how many calories are in this can? Sometimes when my girlfriends get tired of those instant jelly drinks, they rely on this to fill their calorie gap!"
Besides, isn't it delicious to have something sweet? You've had too many good days and haven't experienced the feeling of your mouth not tasting sweetness for a long time.

This can of drink costs more than a meal, so you definitely have to consider the value for money when choosing a drink! The sugar content in this one is twice that of your little Coke!

V opened the tab, took a few big gulps, and let out a coughing sigh.

Mercer shook his head, genuinely unaccustomed to the habit of drinking a can of beverage solely based on its calories.

He glanced at the time indicator that appeared in his eyes: "Let's get our million first."

V was initially excited, but then cautiously said, "How about we change the car and get a mask or something? Those company executives are not easy to mess with. What if there's an ambush?"

"Alright, I've already thought of what someone with an intelligence level of 6 could think of. See those drones behind us? I have no plans to meet with Dr. Kuno anytime soon."

After Mercer finished speaking, V glanced at him resentfully and muttered, "So what if you have high intelligence? What's wrong with an intelligence of 6? If you let Rebecca and Pila go, they might not even have an intelligence of my level."

Mercer thought for a moment and said, "Rebecca might be about the same as you, but Pila is definitely a bit taller than you. He can be considered a street tech expert. You can't operate those mechanical devices without some intelligence."

"Damn? Impossible! Pila's big head might not even be as fast as his little head in terms of reaction time. Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

V waved his hand confidently, thinking that he couldn't possibly be less intelligent than Pira.

But when she saw that Mercer was not saying anything, and seemed to be suppressing laughter, she quickly changed her tune: "But then again, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. My strengths are so outstanding, it's normal to have a weakness."

Someone like Pila, who seems useless at everything, might actually have some special talent.

"Haha~" Mercer couldn't help but laugh.

V rolled her eyes: "I knew you were up to no good, you just want to see me make a fool of myself, right?"

Looking at Mercer's stark white mask, she felt an irresistible urge: "Right, since nobody's showing me what you look like right now anyway..."

"Don't talk, I'm going to listen to the news."

Mercer deliberately turned on the car radio and refused to answer, which angered V so much that he stood there with his arms crossed and didn't say a word.

You know what, she's really pretty when she's not talking.

Good morning, Night City! It's your good buddy, Stan! Today's Dead Man's Lotto is a surprising 48!

Even more shocking, a horrific robbery occurred yesterday afternoon on the highway leading from Night City to the Southern Checkpoint!
A group of mysterious edge travelers took care of an entire carload of biotechnology employees in just ten seconds. Incidentally, the car driven by those biotechnology employees was a military-grade Behemoth!
The Behemoth was left on a one-way street, causing a traffic jam that lasted for half an hour. The NCPD and biotechnology staff were furious, but our mysterious heist team had already vanished without a trace!

Ha! I bet a lot of you are going to lose money today!

Thanks to that team of unknown outsiders, Night City hasn't had a case related to the company in a long time! I wonder if biotechnology will retaliate!

Next, our focus shifts back to the Pacific State – Haitians once again launched protests, and Colonel Hansen's Ghosthound unit in Dogtown clashed again with the Pacific State NCPD.

Many people predict that the NCPD in Taiping will soon have to pack up and leave, which is quite a surprise.

Will the NCPD ultimately suppress Taiping, or will Taiping expel the NCPD and become Night City's 'free zone'? Let's wait and see!

News also came from the Heywood district that the conflict between the Sixth Street gang and the Valentino gang was escalating, with injuries and fatalities due to turf wars increasing daily.

Last night, the Sixth Street gang also launched a raid on the Valentino gang's neighborhood, causing considerable financial and personnel losses.

However, I bet you're not surprised at all, because this is Night City!

If you have any inside information, bet on today's deadly lottery! I bet the death toll is even higher than yesterday!
I'm your best buddy Stan! Let's start a new day in the City of Dreams together!

After the radio stopped playing, V couldn't hold back her smile any longer. As soon as the radio started playing music again, she excitedly reached out and patted Mercer's shoulder hard, making two 'clang clang' sounds.

"Damn it, don't break any of my parts!" Mercer glared at her, clearly annoyed. "Don't you know how strong you are?"

"It's not that exaggerated!" V chuckled and first pretended to pat his shoulder with his hand, then continued excitedly, "Did you hear that? We're on the news!"

"Wow! No way, I have to brag about this in the afterlife today. Damn, I'll finally make a name for myself!"

V was so happy that he almost threw away the half-finished bottle of Stupid Monkey.

“If you’re not worried about your name being put on the biotechnology wanted list early on, I don’t mind if you’re even more high-profile.”

After Mercer finished speaking, V looked at him blankly and said, "Isn't this something that was bound to happen sooner or later? With your tendency to stir up trouble, we won't even be able to stay in Night City sooner or later. We'll have to run away eventually, so what's there to be afraid of?"

"Damn, you're so wise you're pretending to be foolish!" Mercer exclaimed in amazement.

V then raised his fist: "Would you like to test how well your iron suit can withstand impacts?"

"He's praising you! Didn't the automatic translator tell you that this is an ancient Chinese way of praising someone?"

The two chatted and laughed, and the car soon arrived in Taiping Prefecture.

This is now the most chaotic place in Night City, where you can see big guys from the Animal Gang or Haitians from the Voodoo Gang every now and then.

Mercer simply parked his car next to an abandoned construction site and began contacting Diana Kuno.

Diana had prepared the money chip long ago and was now sitting on a bench by a coastal road in Pacific State, anxiously waiting for Mercer's message.

Mercer launched the drone, checked it from high altitude to make sure there were no other ambushes, and then remotely controlled the drone to fly above her head.

The coastal highway is surrounded by open space, and there is a beautiful large Ferris wheel not far away. It's a pity that those areas have now become the territory that the Animal Gang and the Haitian Gang are fighting over, and outsiders are not allowed to enter. It's a waste of such a good place.

[?: Good morning, Dr. Kuno.]

Diana Kuno had also spotted the approaching drones early on. When an unknown contact popped up on her prosthetic eye and sent a message, she knew that the extortionists had arrived.

Quite cautious
Seeing this, Diana felt relieved. She had just received a stimulant injection after a sleepless night, and now felt no fatigue at all, her mind was perfectly clear.

"It's me. I've already put the money you wanted into the chip."

Diana waved the large money chip in her hand at the drone.

[?: If I were you, I wouldn't flaunt it so easily—there are several Voodoo Gang members watching you from nine o'clock.]

Diana looked up in a panic, and sure enough, not far away on the street, several thugs who looked like street thugs were smoking and glancing at her from time to time.

She feigned composure: "I think if you invited me here and don't allow me to bring bodyguards, then you must be responsible for my safety, right?"
If I die, there's no point in discussing the cooperation.

【?: That's true. Once you put the chip up, you can leave.】

A storage box was attached to the bottom of the drone. Without saying a word, Diana opened the box, put the chip inside, and then asked nervously, "Where's the recording?"

[?: Let me collect the money first. Once the payment is settled, the video will be sent to your email. By the way, I advise you to prepare in advance. I'm planning to sell the server data and biotechnology information about poisoning the town for money.]

Diana rubbed her forehead in pain: "I know I'll put all the blame on Joanna, so please cooperate a little. It's a deal, you help me land safely and get out of this mud, and I'll get you the equipment you want."

"Of course, I guarantee there will be money; you won't work for nothing."

【?: Okay, but I think you should go. What do you think?】

Diana glanced at the few Voodoo Gang lads who were eager to try their luck in the distance, then got up and went back to her car without saying a word.

She was riding in a self-driving Delaman sedan, which was bulletproof and had no driver. Instead, an AI named Delaman was in charge of the service and could activate combat mode to protect her safety in times of crisis.

This is the only company in Night City with an AI autonomous driving license. Since the company 'independently developed' a technology called Delaman AI, it has rapidly seized the entire taxi market in the city in recent years.

From price to service, it almost completely crushed its other competitors.

Now, Dellaman has just completed the full AI driving system and has officially dismissed all drivers, replacing them all with AI-powered autonomous driving.

Whether considering privacy or security, it has become the top choice for many urban elites when it comes to public transportation.

Seeing her get into the car, the voodoo gang members exchanged glances and climbed into the car without saying a word—they had seen her put something on the drone.

So, they excitedly drove after the drone in its approximate direction, and a street kid even tried to hack it down using a quick hacking program.

How should I put it? It has a kind of aesthetic appeal, like showing off one's axe in front of Guan Yu.

The drone's original scanning signal transmission system was unable to help Mercer establish a network connection with them at such a distance.

But when this street kid foolishly tried to hack the drone and actively established contact with it...

That means he actively connected with Mercer's network.

What was the result?

"Watch me hack that drone down!" The voodoo hacker's excited words had barely left his lips.

Then, his eyes suddenly widened and his hands began to tremble.

Mercer used only three steps, less than a second, to turn the Voodoo Gang kid's brain into scum.

The first step was to use the drone's network access bay to capture the network signal of the Voodoo Gang members.

The second step is to use the drone's network access bay to establish a data connection between the voodoo gang's network and your own network.

The third step was to send a rapid decryption program to the voodoo gang kid's brain—the hacker only saw the words "intruded" in front of him for a few seconds before his brain immediately lost consciousness.

Mercer didn't even use his brain to manipulate it precisely; he simply provided the computing power for rapid cracking without thinking. Then, in less than three seconds, he sent the program into the mind of this voodoo gang hacker.

The reason it took three seconds is because the data transmission speed of the drone's network access bay is limited.

Then came the classic method of hacking into a small team of hackers to spread the Puppet program.

Under the chain reaction of infection, just three seconds later, all that remained in the eyes of the few voodoo gang members in the car was a line of bright red text that filled their entire field of vision.

Fatal system error

[Stop beating]

When the fiery red skull flashes a death signal in their prosthetic eyes, it means that their brain-computer interface has sentenced their bodies to death.

Diana hadn't gone far when she instinctively looked back and saw the Voodoo Gang's car crashing straight into the roadside railing, plunging off the road, and overturning onto the beach below.

Before the car veered off the road, Diana's prosthetic eye clearly saw inside their car window that everyone's heads were crackling with blue electricity and bursting into flames.

Did they just wipe them all out remotely over the internet? In just a few breaths?

Her body trembled slightly, and cold sweat instantly covered her back.

What kind of monsters are these that have their eyes on her?
"Alas!!"

"We're rich!! A! We're rich! Damn, we still have to be corporate dogs! Can we pull off a few more heists? Who's our next target? Military technology? Arasaka? Kangtao?"

"Tell me, which company's corporate dog is the richest? Damn it, don't be ridiculous, let me hug him a little longer! That's a million euros!"

V hugged the little box tightly in his arms, so excited that he seemed to want to kiss it or even eat it.

Mercer shook his head, unable to suppress a chuckle: "Aren't you afraid of being watched by the company now? Weren't you terrified of those secret agents?"

"Damn it, now they should be afraid of me!" V glared angrily, his expression saying that anyone who dared to come near would die.

As expected of you, a monster produced by capitalism.

Mercer chuckled a few times and put the drone away.

"Let's go, let's go submit the commission. We still have at least 300,000 euros waiting for us to collect."

V immediately jumped into the passenger seat, still clutching the million euros tightly in his hand.

Mercer was too lazy to cricket her, so he let the silly girl have her fun for a while.

The car drove out of Taipingzhou District and headed straight for Twisted Street in the Kabuki District.

Mercer got out of the car, intending to invite V to come along, but V instead got out carrying the suitcase in her hands—making Mercer rub her temples involuntarily.

V wouldn't dare leave a million euros in the car! It seems she won't let that million euros out of her sight for even a second until the money for the chip is transferred to the bank.

Mercer simply let her stay in the car while he picked up the box containing the medicine and went to see Wakako.

The same security guard was standing in the corridor in front of the office, but this time, he was noticeably more polite to Mercer.

"Ms. Wakako is waiting for you inside."

The security guard even smiled and nodded at Mercer—he looked much more amiable now than before when he was so arrogant.

Mercer hummed in agreement and walked through the corridor into Wakako's office.

The old lady looked at Mercer with a beaming smile, and before Mercer could speak, she greeted him in a gentle tone:

Good morning, A. It seems our commission is going smoothly?

"The drug samples are here, and the information on the immunomodulators is here."

Mercer took out a storage chip and placed it on the table. Then, after a pause, he said, "I also obtained a lot of interesting information and data from the biotechnology server. As agreed, you have to give me a reasonable price."

“Of course, child, I never do anything like that.” After saying that, Wakako looked at him expectantly.

Mercer didn't waste any time and took out another chip, placing it on the table: "This is a list of valuable data that I extracted from the database. Take a look, find a buyer, and give me a quote."

If the price is right, I'll send the relevant data to your designated email address.

Wakako took the items and placed them on the table: "Okay, but just to be on the safe side, I think it would be better if we put the data in a storage chip for the transaction. You know, there are too many hacking methods these days."

Mercer nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll wait for your news later. We can wait a little while for the transfer. By the way, I wonder if Ms. Wakako has any methods for tax avoidance?"

"Tax avoidance?"

Wakako looked at Mercer with admiration: "Few mercenaries would consider these things from the very beginning like you. It's simple, I know a bank, you can go there and find a professional to open an 'overseas account' for you."

"How do you operate it?" Mercer asked with great interest.

"While most companies comply with Night City's taxes, some European-based banking institutions don't care about Night City's rules."

You can apply for an overseas account simply by stating your intention. The money you deposit is equivalent to the income you earn in a special low-tax zone overseas. This money will automatically go through a process before ending up in your overseas account.

You only need to pay 2% of the deposit as tax payable in the account opening location when you deposit money, and then you only need to pay an additional service fee of 0.1% per transaction.

It's like every penny you spend is deducted from an overseas account. Night City can only see your spending, not your income.

This is a special service offered by the bank for mercenary groups, provided only to special individuals with high spending and income capacity. It is a service that can only be processed by those whom the bank considers 'VIP' customers.

Of course, if you die unexpectedly one day, don't expect these vampires to return the money to you. They will hide your accounts tightly, and anyone who tries to receive the inheritance will be dealt with by the legal department for a long time.

Then you'll have to pay an expensive inheritance tax locally before you can get your money back.

After Wakako finished speaking, Mercer nodded decisively: "This is it."

For now, we'll use this account to evade taxes. Later, Mercer will consider creating a legitimate company and then using the company to conduct tax-free operations.

This is not difficult. You should know that in 2076, Night City even directly exempted 32 companies from income tax, which shows how wonderful this place is for companies.

However, this is not the case for ordinary people. Even if your annual income is only 10,000 euros, you still have to pay taxes.

Because the tax threshold in the City of Night is 1000 euros per month, once you reach that amount, you will have to pay at least 25% personal income tax.

Opening such an account is also necessary because although the money stored in the virtual wallet on the personal chip escapes the bank's monitoring, it also means that if the data is corrupted or stolen, the money is simply gone.

“Go to this EC bank, and I will tell the manager that you are one of my people. He will at most charge you a handling fee and will not waste time verifying your qualifications. You and your team can apply for one, and he will be happy to serve you.”

After all, the service fee per transaction may seem small, but mercenaries make and spend money quickly. With each transaction, there are bank statements and profits, not to mention what happens if something unexpected happens to you.”

Wakako smiled and sent this information to Mercer's messaging app.

Mercer nodded: "Thanks, Wakako. I'll send you the account details once you've set it up. You can just transfer the money to this overseas account."

“No problem,” Wakako said with a smile.

Then Mercer turned and left, returning to the car. V, still dazed, was clutching the million euros, looking around anxiously, as if afraid someone would try to steal it from her.

"Where to go next?"

"Go to the bank and open a new account. You all need to do the same."

Mercer was concise and to the point. He took V to the city center, found the bank that Wakako had mentioned, and completed the bank account opening process in less than twenty minutes.

Even Rebecca's and others' bank accounts were opened remotely with just an internet connection.

The price is a 1,000 euro fast-track VIP channel – which basically means you have to feed this company dog ​​first, otherwise this special account can't be processed.

The unspoken message from the bank is that if you pay, you can open an account immediately; if you don't pay, you'll have to wait in line for a while. Don't ask how long that wait is, because you won't see the process for opening an overseas account anyway.

It was only around a thousand euros, and Mercer didn't hesitate and paid right away.

V glared fiercely at the company employee, looking like he was about to knock him out that night, which made the company employee speed up his paperwork.

Then Mercer used the bank to deposit the one million euros from his money chip and the four hundred thousand euros in cash from his virtual wallet, according to the proportion of the money.

The team funds and Mercer's own money were all deposited into Mercer's own account, while the others were allocated 30% and 10% to their own accounts, as previously agreed.

Mercer also sent the 30 yen that Wakako hadn't paid him yet, in advance, to avoid having to pay a 0.1% service fee for the transfer later.

Even small amounts add up.

Mercer did the math and realized that just the 2% 'tax' deducted in advance from the deposit amounted to a whopping 30,000 euros, enough to pay V several times over.

Tsk tsk, capitalists really know how to make money!
As for the claim that taxes are paid to low-tax areas overseas, where is there a place with a 2% tax rate?
Those places are clearly colonies controlled by the banks themselves. It's possible that the banks collect all the taxes there, and the money is definitely in their hands.

Having settled things with the bank, Mercer didn't waste any time and immediately dialed Hans's number.

Now that I have money in my pocket, it's time to build myself a place!
(End of this chapter)